Time to Grow Up

Piggybacking on the last blog about the bombardment of our minds, it’s time to talk about allegiance. Where are you giving your attention, your loyalty, your heart?

Put the screen down and pick up your Bible. And if your Bible is on your phone, I’d challenge you to pick up a physical Bible with real pages. Why? Because the moment we open an app, we are one notification away from distraction. One buzz, one ad, one pop-up is all it takes to pull us out of God’s Word and into the noise again.

The Call to Be Soldiers, Not Spectators

Scripture doesn’t leave us room to stay passive. Paul told Timothy: You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier (2 Timothy 2:3-4).

Or how about this one:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer (2 Timothy 2:15-17).

These are two powerful truths we need to remember and live by. Be careful of both entanglements and idle babbling that spreads like cancer. Rather, be one who shows themselves knowledgeable of God’s Word…not knowledgeable in what “someone else” has told you to believe, but knowledgeable of what His Word actually says. 

Both of these passages are a type of battlefield language. We are soldiers of Jesus Christ. Soldiers train, prepare, and discipline themselves. They don’t let every distraction pull them off mission. They serve as a reminder for us: stop choosing to be coddled Christians and get up and start training. 

It’s time for us all to grow up!

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13:11, When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Friends, it's time we put away childish things. If our lives are built around constant amusement, we are deceiving ourselves and spiritually sleepwalking. A real-life example? How many of us can sing along to a secular song, or recite the latest sports stats or quote one liners from our favorite movies, but struggle to recall even five verses of Scripture? Or, how many hours are spent online while the Bible on the shelf gathers dust?

The Danger of Deception

Jesus Himself warned that in the last days, False christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect (Matthew 24:24). The “elect” is us.

Jesus is saying that we can be deceived. Have we forgotten that we are not alone in this fight? Jesus promised that He would send us a Helper, the Holy Spirit: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I depart, I will sent Him to you…When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth (John 16:7, 13).  

Do not neglect so great a gift as the Holy Spirit to help you properly discern and navigate through the lies and illusions in this hour.

The Call to Action

Take heed to Paul’s words that still thunder into our distracted age, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2). This is a call to maturity. A call to discipline. A call to be renewed in your mind. A call to be a soldier of Jesus Christ. 

Pray. Seek the Spirit of truth. Discipline yourselves. Do the work as a good soldier of Christ. 

The time for spiritual childhood is over. It’s time to train. It’s time to endure. It’s time to grow up. 

God bless you,

Carole